Have you ever tried to sell yourself?
Not in the selling-yourself-on-the-street kind of way, but in life?
We're all selling ourselves all the time. To friends. To potential lovers. To customers and clients.
Some people were born with the ability to sell themselves. They convince people why everyone should care about them immediately.
For the rest of us, it's tough. It's hard to be able to look at someone and not feel ridiculous as you riddle off the reasons that you're the best.
Even after years of copywriting and selling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of client products, you'd think I'd be able to walk into a room and toot my own horn (who came up with that phrase?) without a problem.
But it's always awkward.
There's something to be said for hiring someone else to do it. Hell, I've debated on several occasions to have someone else write my sales page for someone to hire me because it's hard to look objectively at yourself and point out the best.
This is also why online dating is a crock of shit.
"How do I sound funny? But without looking like I'm trying too hard? Should I mention how great my dog is? What do I do for fun? Well, I like to watch Scream marathons on my own but that's not exactly exciting. Let's say I like to go out on the town. And I do, but I also now start getting tired around 10 P.M. but dear god do not list that on here."
Everyone experiences this.
Whether you're trying to find friends, lovers, or clients, it's all the same.
You want to come up with reasons why they should care. Why they should be invested in you. Why you're better than the other options out there.
The best way is to just be brutally human.
My first year of college I remember it being awkward doing all of the "introduce yourself" first day activities, and one girl I didn't know at all leaned over and said, "This is boring as shit, want to bail and go get smoothies?" That was it. The beginning of a friendship.
Sometimes it just takes one a moment to look someone in the eyes and be completely human, even just for a moment. To tell someone exactly what you're thinking in that moment without second thought.
Sometimes, it might be the best sale you'll ever make.